CMA Announces More Than $950,000 in Grants for Small Ensembles and Presenters

New York, NY (July 31, 2017)—Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network for ensemble music professionals, today announced the distribution of $951,545 through its four major grant programs: New Jazz Works and Presenter Consortium for Jazz, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Classical Commissioning, supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Residency Partnership Program, funded by Chamber Music America's Residency Endowment Fund.

This funding will provide key support for the creation, performance, and presentation of small ensemble works, as well as support community engagement and audience-building initiatives. The grantees in each program were selected by independent peer panels. A complete list of the 2017 grantees follows:

NEW JAZZ WORKSFunded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

A total of $447,000 was awarded to fifteen jazz ensembles through the New Jazz Works program, which supports the creation of new works by professional U.S.-based jazz artists and helps assure that these compositions will be heard through live performances and recordings.

Twelve grants totaling $231,550 have been awarded through the Classical Commissioning program, which provides support to U.S.-based professional classical and world music ensembles and presenters for the creation and performance of new chamber works by American composers.

Chamber Music America's commissioning programs are also supported by the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, and the Chamber Music America Commissioning Endowment Fund.

The Residency Partnership Program supports ensembles and presenters in building awareness and appreciation for classical/contemporary, jazz, and world chamber music through community-based residencies that engage audiences beyond traditional concert settings. A total of $41,995 has been awarded to seven ensembles and two presenting organizations across the United States.

PRESENTER CONSORTIUM FOR JAZZFunded by the Doris Duke Charitable FoundationPresenter Consortium for Jazz supports consortiums of three U.S. presenters to collectively engage up to three professional U.S. jazz ensembles. Project grants totaling $156,000 have been awarded to five consortiums (15 presenting organizations), which will receive an additional $75,000 in general operating support.

For more information about CMA’s grant programs, including past grantees and projects, please visit:www.chamber-music.org.

Chamber Music America, the national network for ensemble music professionals, was founded in 1977 to develop, support, and strengthen the chamber music field. With a membership of nearly 6,000, including musicians, ensembles, presenters, artist managers, educators, music businesses, and advocates of ensemble music, CMA welcomes members representing a wide range of musical styles and traditions. CMA provides its members with grant programs, consulting services, a national conference, professional development seminars, access to instrument and other insurances, and several publications, including Chamber Music magazine; the weekly Accent e-newsletter; and a member-driven website, www.chamber-music.org.

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people’s lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research, and child well-being, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke’s properties.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation endeavors to strengthen, promote, and, where necessary, defend the contributions of the humanities and the arts to human flourishing and to the well-being of diverse and democratic societies. To this end, the Foundation supports exemplary institutions of higher education and culture as they renew and provide access to an invaluable heritage of ambitious, path-breaking work.